Library Day (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: The Allens and Five-0 spend some time at their local library.


**Notes:** Mari and Sammy – Thank you for the wonderful feedback! And thanks to Sammy for working through some ending ideas with me!

Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you for your amazing support. I'm sure there are quite a few library lovers out there, and for that, I'm also very grateful.

Esther – Thanks for the usual :-)

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _Library Day (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

"You wait there, Aunt Catherine," Jacob told her. " _I'll_ get the books."

"Okay," Catherine said, taking a seat at one of the tables in the Children's Section so she could keep Jacob in sight as he went to the end of the Early Reader shelves. He returned a minute later with a stack of hardcover books, plopping them down on the table and wincing at the noise. He looked around guiltily but relaxed to see his favorite librarian Miss Kristin smile understandingly from the desk.

Catherine eyed the large stack and teased, "All those books?"

"My teacher said 20 minutes every day," Jacob said seriously. He pushed his chair next to hers and climbed into it.

She smiled proudly. "Then we better get started."

"I'll be Gerald, you be Piggie."

Catherine grinned. "So, our usual roles?"

"Yep!" He nodded happily, pulling the top book off the stack and putting it in front of them. He pointed at each word in the title and read, " ' _We Are in a Book!'_ " He gasped. "Oh! I forgot. I'm not 'pposed to use my finger anymore. I'm in second grade," he said by way of explanation. Sitting on his hands, he read again, " ' _We Are in a Book!'_ "

"Hey," Catherine said with a smile. "We've read this one before."

Jacob grinned up at her. "I love this one."

"Okay, then." She nodded toward the book, and he took his hands out from under his legs and turned the page.

"I'm the gray, remember?" Jacob said, pointing to the gray speech bubble. " 'Cause I'm Gerald and elephants are gray."

Catherine smiled indulgently. "I remember."

"And you're the pink, but not 'cause you're a girl. Casey said not all girls like pink."

"That's right."

"You're pink 'cause Piggie is pink."

"Got it."

" 'We Are in a Book!' " Jacob read on the title page, then turned to start the story. They read back and forth, pausing on each page so Jacob could study the illustrations. He giggled after whisper-shouting Gerald's realization that he and Piggie are in a book. " 'THAT IS SO COOL!' " Jacob pointed at the page and looked at Catherine. "He was so loud it knocked Piggie over!"

"He's very excited," Catherine agreed. They continued reading, and she smiled when she reached the part where Piggie makes the reader say a funny word. "Ohh, now I remember why you love this one."

Jacob grinned, clenching his fists in anticipation.

Catherine smiled and read, " 'Banana,' " but with a minion voice. Jacob threw his head back, laughing. Hurriedly, he turned the page and read Gerald's next two lines so he could get to the part where the elephant said, "Banana!" Of course he also used his best minion voice.

"Do you think Gerald and Piggie saw the minion movie?" he asked.

"I think this book came out before any of the minion movies."

"Ohh. They just think 'banana' is a funny word, too?"

"Right."

Jacob thought for a moment, then nodded. "It is pretty funny."

Catherine grinned. "It is." She nodded at the book. "Shall we keep going?"

He nodded enthusiastically, and they continued reading. Though the characters hoped to avoid the awful fate of the book ending by entreating the reader to start again, Jacob looked at Catherine and said, "It's okay, there's lots more."

She smiled at the large stack in front of them. "I see that."

He pulled the next book from the top.

"Oh, I don't think we've read this one," Catherine said.

Jacob tilted his head as he looked at the cover. "He looks sick."

"I think he's tired."

Jacob read the title, " ' _I Will Take a Nap!_ ' Ohhh, you're right, Aunt Catherine." He moved on to the first page. " 'I am tired.' " He glanced at the stack of books and then looked at Catherine with wide eyes. "I know why he's so tired."

"Why?"

He pointed to the stack. "He's in all these books!"

She laughed. "I think you're right, Jacob."

* * *

"So seventh grade is all right so far?" Chin asked Dylan as they walked into the library.

"Yeah, except I've got this report to do already," Dylan complained. "It's only the first week."

"Everything's tougher in middle school," Chin commiserated. "You said it's for science?"

"Yeah, we gotta write about how animals are studied, but we get to pick the animal. And we gotta use books _and_ the Internet."

"Okay. What animal do you want to do?"

"Sharks," Dylan said immediately. "Great white sharks."

Chin smiled. "Didn't get enough during Shark Week?"

"No way."

"Well, let's look for a book or two first," Chin suggested, nodding toward a bank of catalog computers.

"Okay," Dylan agreed. "Hey, thanks for bringing me."

"Sure thing. I'm proud of you for not waiting until the last minute."

Dylan smiled, looking down.

Chin chuckled, nudging him with an elbow. "Especially not after last time. The fable writing project?"

Dylan groaned, flopping into the chair by one of the computers. "That was the worst."

"Might not have been so bad if you hadn't waited till the night before," Chin said in a sing-song voice.

"I know, I know," Dylan said, unable to contain a grin. He typed 'great white shark' in the search box of the library's catalog. His eyes widened when 192 results were returned. "Whoa."

Chin leaned down for a better look. "Hmm … that first book is from 1991. I bet they've learned a lot about great white sharks since then."

"Yeah." He scrolled down the screen, looking at the search limits along the side of the results. "Look, only 122 are books. Some of these are DVDs."

Chin pointed further down the page. "And we probably want one that's at this branch, don't you think?"

"Yeah." He picked the checkbox for their library and sighed in relief when a more manageable 18 results came up. He scrolled down for a moment, then stopped. " 'The Great White Shark Scientist,' " he read.

"Sounds perfect."

Dylan nodded. "And it says 'On Shelf.' "

"Here," Chin said, grabbing a scrap of paper and a golf pencil from the tray by the computer. "Write down the call number and we'll go find it."

Dylan scribbled down the number, then he and Chin walked through the stacks of juvenile non-fiction books until they arrived in the 500s where the animal books were shelved. It took a minute, but Dylan found the book he was looking for among the other books on sharks.

"Raw," he said, staring at the cover photo of a great white shark in the water. "I wish I could see a great white in the ocean. That fin coming out of the water." He held a hand up in imitation of a dorsal fin.

Chin smiled. "You know, even though it's in all the movies, you don't actually see a shark fin coming out of the water all that often."

"Really?"

Chin shook his head. "You want to know why?"

"Why?"

"Because they get sunburned."

Dylan gaped. "No way."

"Way."

"Sharks can get sunburned?"

"That's what the scientists think."

Dylan looked back at the shark on the cover. "Awesome. I mean, not awesome they can get sunburned, but … awesome."

Chin smiled, putting a hand on his shoulder and steering him toward the aisle. "Awesome is right."

* * *

Grace and Casey exited the program room on either side of Lailah's wheelchair. After the last Shop with a Cop event in December, Casey and Lailah had become good friends, and Grace occasionally joined them when they hung out. All three had been regular attendees at the library's teen book club during the summer.

Casey spotted Kono over by a display of DIY books, and the three headed in her direction.

"Hey, there you are," Kono said, smiling at them. "Lailah, your mom texted me she hit a little bit of traffic. But she's on her way."

"I know, she texted me, too." Lailah smiled. "She used to wait nearby after she dropped me off at a program … if she even let me come at all. But after this summer, it's like she trusts me now to be okay by myself."

"That's so great," Grace said.

"Yeah," Kono agreed. "Especially since she's started working at Head Start again."

"The first couple days she texted me all the time to check in, but I told her it's the same as before only now when I'm in school she's at work instead of at home. And she gets done way before I do, so it's fine."

"I'm glad you convinced her to go back."

"Me, too. I know she missed the little kids."

"I bet." She looked at the three girls. "So, how was book club?"

"It was great," Casey said.

"What book were you reading again?"

" _The Crossover_ ," Lailah said.

Grace nodded. "It's a novel in verse."

"That means it's poetry," Casey explained.

"But it doesn't have to rhyme," Lailah quickly added.

"Ms. Betsy said sometimes people hear it's poetry and they don't want to read it," Grace continued.

Casey nodded. "But it was so good. We got to read our favorite parts out loud. Lailah read the first page. It's this awesome basketball scene."

"I read it to my team, too. But the book's only sort of about basketball," Lailah said. "It's really about the brothers and then their dad–"

"Don't tell her!" Grace interrupted, waving her hands in a gesture eerily similar to one of her father's. "Auntie Kono might read it, right?"

Kono smiled. "Well, if it's that good, I just might have to."

"And the author, Kwame Alexander, he wrote another book," Casey said, then grinned at her choice of words. "It's called _Booked_."

"It's about a soccer player," Grace said.

"But we're not reading it for book club," Lailah said. "At least not yet."

"Then what's next?"

Casey held up the book in her hand. " _Tell the Wind and Fire_. I guess it's like, a retelling of a book by Charles Dickens."

"Yeah, but with magic," Lailah said.

"And now that school's started, book club will be in the night, 'cause so many people have practice and other stuff after school," Grace said.

Kono nodded. "Including the three of you. Cross country, cheer, and basketball take up a lot of time."

"Yeah, but I'm glad we can still come to book club," Grace said.

"Me, too," Lailah agreed as Casey nodded.

Kono beamed proudly. "That's my girls."

* * *

Cody stood by the New Book shelves in the Children's Section, examining the cover of a sparkly pink and purple book as the librarian, Kristin, told him about it and Steve looked on.

"I thought this might be a good one for Kaitlyn, it really turns the story of Sleeping Beauty on its head. When Princess Harriet learns about the curse, she doesn't react like her parents think she will. She figures if she's gotta be around to fulfill the curse, that means she's invincible until she turns twelve. So she starts battling dragons and cliff-diving and doing all sorts of exciting things until it's time to finally break the curse."

"She's also a hamster," Steve observed wryly.

"She's also a hamster," Kristin confirmed with a chuckle. "It's got a nice mix of text and graphic novel panels, and it's so funny. I think she'll like it."

"Cool, thanks," Cody said. "She'll definitely like this cover."

"I know we say 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' but it's hard not to, especially for kids. So I love when a great book like this has a great cover."

"She still loves that Gum Girl book even though the cover doesn't really smell like bubblegum anymore."

Kristin smiled. "That one was very popular, too. Oh!" she said suddenly, reaching for two other books on the shelf. "You've gotta get her these, too. I know she loves animals." She handed him two books. "This one is about a koala hospital in Australia, and this one is about an orangutan care center in Borneo. They have the most adorable photographs."

"Thanks."

"I think it's so sweet you're picking out books for her."

Cody shrugged. "She's got a baking class today. Danny's bringing her after but Mom'll be here soon and she might not get a chance to look around before we have to go home for dinner."

Steve smiled proudly.

"You're such a good brother," Kristin said.

Cody twisted his lips, fighting a smile at her words.

"Well, let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

"Okay, thanks."

After Kristin walked away, Steve looked at Cody with the kids' books in his hands.

"She's right, you know? You are a good brother."

Cody gave a little shrug, a small smile on his face. "It's just … part of me, being a big brother. I can't remember ever being anything else."

Steve nodded. "Your siblings are very lucky to have you." He smiled. "And they know it."

He gestured to where Jacob was waving wildly at Cody from his table, grabbing the edge when he nearly fell out of his seat. Dylan grinned at him from the table he and Chin had taken next to Catherine and Jacob. Casey, Grace, and Kono had commandeered a pod of comfy stuffed chairs closeby after Lailah's mom had picked her up. Seeing her older brother, Casey smiled.

Steve put a hand on Cody's shoulder. "Come on. They're waiting for you."

* * *

Kaitlyn hurried over to the table where Catherine sat with Jacob, Steve and Cody standing behind them. Danny followed at a more sedate pace, smiling at her enthusiasm.

"Look at this!" she said, putting a book down in the middle of the table. Her excitement brought the others over. "Look at this! It's soooooooo cute!"

"That's a little kid book," Dylan said.

"I know, but it's so cute! Look!" She angled the cover toward them, showing off the group of doe-eyed animals all vying to be the most adorable, but losing out to unseen child. Kaitlyn sighed happily as she turned the pages. "I wish I knew a baby I could read it to."

Danny shot a surreptitious look at Steve and Catherine and hid a smile when the two exchanged a quick look.

"Ohh, or Joan," Kaitlyn continued.

"Joan's not a baby," Jacob protested.

"I know, but she's still little. And she's so cute."

Catherine smiled. "I bet she would love it if you read that to her. Remember the title so we can come get it when she visits next time."

"Is she coming for Halloween again?"

"I don't know," Steve said. "We haven't talked about it yet."

"Halloween?" Jenna's voice came from behind them. They turned to see her smiling. "Are we planning for that already?"

"Mom!" Kaitlyn said, hugging her.

"Hi, honey! How was your class?"

"Great! We made lemon cookies. They're in Uncle Danny's car 'cause you can't have food in the library."

"And I read for 20 minutes, Mom," Jacob told her. "Just like my teacher said."

"More than 20 minutes," Catherine corrected with a smile.

"We had to read _all_ the Elephant and Piggie books," Jacob reasoned.

"All of them?" Jenna asked, her eyes going to Catherine's sympathetically.

Jacob nodded. "Yep."

"Do we have to go right now, Mom?" Kaitlyn asked.

"We have a few minutes before we should leave so we can get dinner started."

"I got you some books to look at, Kaitlyn," Cody said, pointing to the pile next to Jacob's stack.

"Ohhhh," she said reverently, picking up the sparkly cover of the Hamster Princess book.

Cody grinned knowingly at Steve.

Grace and Casey went back to the stuffed chairs to keep reading their new book club titles, and Dylan sat back down at the next table with his shark book. Cody took over as Piggie to read with Jacob while Kaitlyn flipped through the photographs in the koala and orangutan books.

The six adults stood back, smiling at the scene.

"It's so great how much they all love to read," Kono said.

"I know," Jenna said. "The library has saved us so many times. Books and homework help and activities and just … having this place here to go that's free where they can be surrounded by learning and fun. Where they can all find something they like."

Danny nodded, his eyes drawn to his own daughter's intense concentration on her book.

Steve looked at Catherine. "It's like what you said the other day. About helping girls identify what they're passionate about."

She nodded. "That's important for all kids." She looked around and smiled. "And this is a great place for them to do it."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Note:** Here are the books mentioned in the story. I'll have the covers on the Tumblr (mcrollintherealworld dot tumblr dot com) a little later - I'm sorry I didn't have time to grab the cover photos before work today!

 _We Are in a Book!_ and _I Will Take a Nap!_ ( _Elephant and Piggie_ books), by Mo Willems (Hyperion, 2010 and 2015)

 _The Great White Shark Scientist_ ( _Scientists in the Field_ ), by Sy Montgomery, photographs by Keith Ellenbogen (HMH Books for Young Readers, 2016)

 _The Crossover_ , by Kwame Alexander (Houghton Mifflin, 2014)

 _Tell the Wind and Fire_ , by Sarah Rees Brennan (Clarion, 2016)

 _Harriet the Invincible_ ( _Hamster Princess_ ), by Ursula Vernon (Dial Books, 2015)

 _The Gumazing Gum Girl: Chews Your Destiny_ , by Rhode Montijo (Hyperion, 2013)

 _Koala Hospital_ and _Orangutan Orphanage_ ( _Wildlife Rescue_ ), by Suzi Eszterhas (Owlkids, 2015 and 2016)

 _Next to You: A Book of Adorableness_ , by Lori Haskins Houran, illustrated by Sydney Hanson (Albert Whitman and Co, 2016)


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